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June 17, 2013

The Seafarer Top

I've got a quick pattern review for you today. This was recently released by Abby from Sew Much Ado. It's called the Seafarer Top. I was attracted to the pattern because I like Abby's patterns. I've sewn quite a few of them and the patterns are always very well thought out and give instructions that allow you to produce a professionally finished product. When I saw that it had dolman sleeves, I was hooked. I love dolman sleeves.

One problem for me was that this pattern is for a short sleeve top, and while I WISH winter would just take a hike and disappear, the reality is that Sydney is going to be cool for the next couple of months. Dolman sleeves are easy to extend though, so I knew it would work for a winter top. I also decided to extend the length into a tunic length dress because I love to wear leggings in winter, but am well and truly past the age where it is appropriate to wear leggings and a shorter top (I personally believe this should never be attempted by anyone over the age of around 14, but that's a whole different issue and I won't rattle on).I decided to add an asymmetrical hemline too just to give it an interesting finish. Here's the result.

I happened to stumble on the above picture on my phone. I think Connor (my almost 5 year old took it). The lighting is not great and who knows what I am doing, but he did a pretty good job seeing as I didn't even know he was taking my picture. The rest of my photos were snapped by my friend Analiese from Dimples Photography. You can see the difference in quality, although I wish she had a more photogenic subject to work with. I hate having my photo taken and it shows. The pattern has a lovely little pocket which adds some nice detailing that I think help gives the top more of a professional look rather than an home sewn look.

The instructions are clear and easy to understand, and there are a few variations on this pattern, allowing you to customise it to suit your tastes. For more information on all the variations, look at the Sew Much Ado website here.

I used Merino Wool Jersey to sew this. Merino Wool Jersey is one of my favourite two fabrics to sew with. I pretty much get all my merino wool from The Fabric Store in Surry Hills, Sydney. They are a New Zealand owned company and get a ton of brilliant Merino's in every year. Merino wool is about the only wool I know that is not itchy and you get all those natural insulating properties of wool for very little weight. It is super soft and delightful to sew with. It comes in all sorts of blends, colours and weights. This particular one is quite a thick, heavy weight. Perfect for winter. I hadn't seen this blend before and got it in three colours - this green, the grey and a bright blue which I am still deciding what to with. I am interested in seeing how it washes. Anyone who lives in Sydney should look out - they will have a 40% off sale at some point in the next month and it is well worth the trek into town.

This pattern produces a very cute top. I will definately sew it over and over again, although if I make it tunic length again I will cut it slightly bigger around the hips. I am not exaggerating when I say it took no more than half an hour to sew up. Love this pattern. For anyone that sews and wants to read my review on sewing.patternreview.com, please click here. For anyone else, this is the perfect pattern for beginners, or for those who sew with cottons all the time and need to venture out into the wonderful world of knits. Give it a go!!